“Don't cry, Mama,” Audrey said in a twang that was more Alabama than Minnesota. “Don't you see? The sun will rise again tomorrow, same as today, same as always …”
“Mom, I just don't see what the big deal is,” Mads said. “Audrey will be in the play. Isn't that enough?”
“All I'm asking you to do is try out.” It wasn't like M.C. to be this fixed on something. But the play meant so much to her, and the harder she pushed, the more Mads resisted. She couldn't help it; it was like a reflex.
“No.”
“Madison, I insist you audition for the play. If you don't get the part, fine. But you must at least try out … or I won't let you go to Stanford with Holly and Lina.”
“What?!?” Mads was outraged. “This is blackmail!”
“Honey, do you think that's fair?” Russell said.
“It's just an audition,” M.C. said. “It's not that much to ask.”
“I don't believe this!” Mads cried. “Dad! Pull your Dark Overlord thing and overrule her!”
Russell glanced from his daughter to his wife. “It means a lot to her, Mads. It won't kill you to try out. I mean, it's not as if you've got crippling shyness or anything.”
Mads let her fork clatter against her plate. It was so unfair! But when she weighed the two choices, M.C. won. There was no way Mads was going to miss the Crazy College Weekend. Even if she had to get on a stage and completely humiliate herself. She'd been embarrassed before and lived; she could survive it again.
“All right,” Mads said. “You win. I'll audition. But that means I definitely get to go to Stanford, right?”
“Yes,” M.C. said.
“Actually, honey, I thought we were going to discuss that tonight,” Russell said.
M.C. shot him a sharp look. Matter settled.
“Guess not,” Russell said.
“Mom, don't make her audition,” Audrey whined. “She'll ruin everything.”
“That's enough, Audrey,” M.C. said. “It's a chance for you two to learn to get along. Would you rather go to couples therapy?”
“She'll suck!” Audrey said.
“I thought you were staying in character,” Mads said.
Audrey pushed away from the table. “I'll be in my dressing room.” She went upstairs.
“Audrey!” M.C. called. “Come back and finish your ratatouille!”
“I'll go get her.” Russell wearily got up from the table.
M.C. rubbed her frizzy yellow hair. “You girls … Why can't you get along?”
“Can I be excused?” Mads asked. “To practice my lines?”
M.C. nodded, but she looked pained. “Go ahead, honey.”
I'll audition, if that's what she wants,
Mads thought as she ran up to her room.
But she'll regret it. I'll stink up the place so badly M.C. will cringe with embarrassment. She'll think twice before trying to blackmail
me
again.
News from Dan
To: linaonme
From: your daily horoscope
HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: CANCER: An era is ending. It's put up or shut up time. I recommend shutting up, but if you decide to put up, good luck.
Larissa—
I haven't heard from you in a while. How is India? Long flight I guess, right? I'd love to hear your impressions of it. You used to describe San Francisco so beautifully, I'm sure you could make Mumbai come alive for someone who's never been there.
There is at last a little news in my humdrum suburban life— I've been offered a job at a private school in Portland (Oregon, not Maine). Teaching English, which, as you know, I've wanted to do for a long time. No more Interpersonal Human Development! Can't say that I'll miss it. Although I will miss a few things about good old Rosewood, and a few of the people, too….
Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm going to accept the job. I'm off to Portland this summer! It's not India, but I'm looking forward to a change. I hope the Bollywood Film School is treating you well. Write back soon.
—Beau
I don't believe it,
Lina thought.
Ramona was right. The rumor is true!
Dan is leaving RSAGE. Leaving town! Forever!
A couple of months earlier, Lina had found a personal ad online. The screen name was “Beauregard” but the photo showed Dan Shulman, Lina's Interpersonal Human Development teacher and the love of her life. Lina wrote to “Beau” using the name “Larissa.” Knowing that Dan would never be interested in a romantic correspondence with one of his students, she pretended to be a 22-year-old graduate student. And it was fun for a while. Beau fell for Larissa a little bit and wanted to meet her. That's when the trouble began.
Lina had set up a lunch date and had gone to the restaurant. But in the end, she couldn't go through with it. So she wrote to him explaining that she couldn't see him because she was moving to India. It nearly broke her heart to do it. But she had no choice. If Dan knew she was Larissa, he'd stop writing to her. The whole thing would be ruined.
But now he was moving away. After the end of the year, she'd never see him again. Things were ruined anyway.
Mads and Holly knew that Lina had a crush on Dan, but Lina's real feelings, the true depth of them, were more private. Lina was afraid her friends wouldn't understand. The one person who knew best how Lina felt—and even she didn't quite get it—was Ramona Fernandez, over-the-top Goth girl extraordinaire. Ramona's crush on Dan was almost as big as Lina's, and she showed it by wearing a skinny tie like Dan's around her neck every day, on top of her gauzy Goth clothes. Some of her friends wore the ties too. Ramona called it the Dan Shulman Cult. They even had a shrine to him in Ramona's room. Lina wasn't crazy about the ties and the cult but she put up with Ramona because she understood what Dan-love was all about.
Lina IMed Ramona immediately.
linaonme: huge news! U were right! He's leaving!
Lina knew that she didn't have to tell Ramona who “he” was. Their impossible love for Dan was just about the only thing Lina and Ramona had in common.
raven7: how do u know?
linaonme: he wrote me. as beauregard. He's moving to portland for a new job!
raven7: this is a nightmare! What r we going to do?
linaonme: I don't know. But we have to do something before he leaves—or we'll regret it for the rest of our lives.
The Rabbit-Faced Boy of Her Dreams
To: hollygolitely
From: your daily horoscope
HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: You can try to play God, but He'll always be more authentic in the role.
J
osh is meeting us at the party,” Rob said.
“Good,” Holly said. “Is he wearing something nice?” Rob stared at Holly. “How should I know?”
Boys. Holly let it go. It didn't really matter anyway. Boys all dressed pretty much alike. Holly stopped at the door of the Fowlers' house and gave Rob a quick kiss. “Thanks for helping me set this up.”
Holly had searched and searched for the right boy for Britta, and finally settled on a friend of Rob's named Josh Sisson. He was a senior, going to Berkeley in the fall, so he had to be pretty smart. Other than that, his main qualification was that his girlfriend had just dumped him. He was upset about it, needed cheering up, and wanted a new girlfriend to parade around in front of the old one as quickly as possible. When Holly heard that Nick Henin, a senior, was having a big party, she decided it was the perfect chance to lure Britta out of her self-imposed convent.
“I'm not sure this is going to work out,” Rob said as Holly pressed the doorbell. “I mean, what do they have in common?”
“Well, they both wear glasses,” Holly said. Josh wore heavy, black-framed ironic-hipster glasses. “At least there's that.” It would have to do. “Anything could happen,” Holly added. “They could fall in love at first sight. The course of true love is uncontrollable and unpredictable.”
“Who said that?” Rob asked.
“I did,” Holly said. “But it sounds like a real quotation, doesn't it?”
Peggy Fowler answered the door. “Holly! Nice to see you, Rob.” She let them in, fluttering nervously to the stairs. “Britta! Holly's here!” She turned back to Holly and Rob, waiting in the foyer. “Britta tells me you're introducing her to a boy tonight? I hope he's nice.”
“Very nice, Mrs. Fowler,” Holly said. “He's a friend of Rob's.”
“Good. So he's not too wild or anything, right? I want Britta to have more of a social life but not so much that her studies suffer, know what I mean? Drugs and drinking can just
erase
your brain cells … ”
“Josh isn't a big partier, Mrs. Fowler,” Rob said. “Britta's brain cells will be safe with him.”
Britta came down the stairs in a neat blue skirt, preppy white sweater and a headband holding back her curly hair. They left the house and climbed into Rob's mother's big black SUV. They drove a couple of miles to Nick Henin's house, where they were meeting Josh, Lina, Mads and Stephen.
Nick's house was a big, showy glass cube at the end of a quiet street. The Henins had gotten rich off a candy bar made especially for people allergic to peanuts. The cube glowed in the night, and through the windows Holly could already see a crush of mingling bodies.
Lina, Mads, and Stephen met them near the front door. Mads, small, dark-haired and creamy-skinned, was dressed for action in platform sandals and a mini-skirt. Stephen, tall and thin with straight brown hair and an air of sophistication about him—at least compared to the oafs around him—held her hand. Holly was glad to see things were going well with them. They'd only been dating a short time, but Mads had wanted a boyfriend for so long, and it looked like Stephen was going to be her first real one.
“It's packed,” Lina shouted over the music. “I think every kid in town is here.” Holly was surprised to see that she was wearing purple eye shadow and mascara on her brown almond-shaped eyes. Tallish, athletic, with shiny black hair, Lina wasn't usually a big makeup wearer, other than lip gloss.
“Hi, Britta,” Mads said. “Are you nervous?”
Britta shot an annoyed glance at Holly. “Did you tell everyone that you're fixing me up tonight?”
“No,” Holly said. “Just Mads and Lina. They're my Dating Game partners. We always consult each other on matches.”
“There's Josh,” Rob said, nodding toward a sandy-haired boy with heavy black glasses. He was sitting on the chrome-and-leather couch in the living room, spotted Rob, and waved. Mentally Holly gave him her stamp of approval. How could Britta go wrong? He was quick to smile and nicely balanced between cool and geeky. Britta's first love.
She should thank me,
Holly thought. Since they'd started the Dating Game, Holly had made many successful matches, and she was proud of her record.
Holly followed Rob to the couch, dragging Britta behind her. “That's him?” Britta whispered.
“Isn't he cute?” Holly said.
Britta didn't answer. Holly said hello to Josh and introduced Britta. “We'll go get some drinks,” Holly said. “Rob, come with me?”
She and Rob walked to the open kitchen and peeked back at the happy couple. “Do you think he likes her?” Holly asked.
“They've only known each other two seconds,” Rob said.
They grabbed some sodas and waited a few minutes before turning back to watch Josh and Britta. Josh sat down on the couch and gestured to Britta to sit next to him. Britta hesitated. She looked around the room. Then she shook her head, said something, and walked away.
“What is she doing?” Holly whispered. She dropped the drinks on a table and chased after Britta. Rob made a beeline for Josh.
Holly caught up with Britta as she was about to enter the bathroom.
All right,
Holly thought,
maybe everything is okay. She just had to go to the bathroom.
“I'll be right out,” Britta said. Holly waited. A few minutes later Britta reappeared.
“Can we go now?” Britta asked. “I'm ready to leave.”
“What? Don't you want to talk to Josh for a few minutes?”
“No. I don't like him.”
Holly couldn't believe it. “How can you not like him? You hardly know him.”
“I just don't. I could tell as soon as I saw him that he wasn't right for me. Sorry.”
Holly clenched her teeth to keep herself from snapping at Britta.
“Go back there and talk to him,” Holly said. “You haven't given him a chance. You can't tell anything just by looking at him. And besides, what's wrong with the way he looks? I think he's cute.”
“I just don't like him, that's all,” Britta said. “So can we leave?”
“We just got here,” Holly said. “Give it a little more time. Even if you don't hit it off with Josh, you might have fun. Talk to people! Relax!”
“Okay,” Britta said. “I'll try.”
“I'm going over to talk to Rob and Josh,” Holly said. “Want to come with me?”
“I think I'll take a look around the house,” Britta said.
Rob was sitting with Josh. “What's going on?” Josh asked when Holly sat next to him.
Holly shrugged. “I'm sorry, Josh. What can I tell you?
She's not used to parties. I think she's just nervous.”
“Nervous?” Rob said. “She spent two seconds with Josh before she ran away. That goes beyond nervous. That's more into crazy territory.”
“All right,
extremely
nervous,” Holly said. “I left her sulking outside the bathroom.”
“So … she doesn't like me?” Josh asked. He looked hurt, and Holly felt terrible.
“Yeah, Holly,” Rob demanded. “What's her problem?”
“It's not that,” Holly lied. “She's never had a boyfriend before, and I guess she's still not ready. Don't worry, Josh. Yo u won't have any trouble finding a new girlfriend.”
“Seems to me I'm already having trouble,” Josh said.
“It's not you, it's her,” Holly said. “And I'm not just saying that.”
Holly and Rob spent another hour reassuring Josh that he wasn't the biggest loser at the party. They finally got him to go outside with them and sit on the deck where Mads, Stephen, and Lina were sipping beer. Holly was annoyed with Britta—how could she be so snotty?—and avoided her until the party started winding down, when she finally wondered where Britta was and what she'd been doing all this time.
She found Britta sitting on the spiral staircase, deep in an intense conversation with a guy. He had short black hair and an unremarkable face except for a slight overbite that made Holly think of a rabbit. He was dressed kind of farmerishly in a red flannel shirt and dark jeans. Holly had never seen him before.